Fred

Inside the lambda expression you can have a comprehension to unpack the keys list to get the same sort of uplet as your "manual" example, like this:

>>> items = [{"core_name": "a", "label": "b"},{"core_name": "c", "label": "d"}, ]
>>> keys = ["core_name", "label"]

>>> tuple(items[0][k] for k in keys)
('a', 'b')

>>> sorted(items, key=lambda d: tuple(d[k] for k in keys))
[{'core_name': 'a', 'label': 'b'}, {'core_name': 'c', 'label': 'd'}]

Would some battons (like that: https://www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-Redwood-PSE-Timber---44-x-44-x-2400mm/p/9000281515, or possible smaller depending of the profile of your table), fixed to the underside of the gaming top so that they're leaving a negative image of the fixed table top? That way, once installed, the gaming top can't slide around. That would only work well in my mind if the gaming top is a single piece.

Edit: with that idea, minimal length of the gaming is that of the table plus two thicknesses of the baton you'd use, ie. more than the 20mm you seem to have in mind. Maybe, maybe not an issue.

For the cover, I'd consider a felt with a waterproof backing, although I don't have a specific material in mind. If you don't add felt, I'd soften the angles of the MDF.

I actually had to look it up when writing that post, I think I searched for "garden gate lock" at first :)

Offering a crate as a safe and cosy space to relax, sleep, etc. is recommended by the RSPCA (and the Dog Trust, Battersea, and many more).

In normal use it's fitted with a small mattress, vet bed, toys (that I didn't show because I didn't make those myself).

A standard poodle. In that picture he hadn't had his first trim yet, so he's showing gloriously fluffy puppy hair

Since I have a few pictures and you're asking nicely 😃 I opened another post: https://programming.dev/post/25943048

The second thing I mentionned were some shelves that had to fit in a very specific spot, but I don't have pictures to hand

As a beginner who mostly learned from the University of YouTube, I hear you, it was more involved and messier work than I thought it'd be

We're a couple months later, I ended up doing a second small project, this time I used half tung oil half orang oil, and adjusted my technique: wiped with a clean rag after application, and I think the room was warmer them last time.

Got better results, more even and it didn't take 2+ weeks for the first coat to cure (more like a few days).

Thanks for the advice 🙂

By "Syslog-ng Engineer" do they mean a C systems programmer who can fix bugs and add features to syslog? that's a rather different role from being an admin; even if, depending on the size of the operation, it make sense to give both roles to the same person

Besides Journal not being available on non-Linux, there are a could of reasons for using syslog: it can log to a remote server for instance. Journal does have a remote logging capability, but at best you have to run two log sinks in parallel, at worse it's a non starter because everything that's not a Linux box (network routers, VMware hosts, IDS appliances) can't speak to it

Another is fine filing and retention. With syslog you can say things like "log NOTICE and above from daemon XYZ to XYZ.log and keep 30 days worth; log everything including DEBUG to XYZ-debug.log, keep no more than 10MB". With Journal you rotate the entire log or nothing, at least last I looked I couldnt find anything finer. There are namespaces, but that doesn't compowe, the application needs to know which log goes into which namespace

There was a discussion of pathlib a few days ago: https://programming.dev/post/21864360

You clearly have more experience than I do; the only explanation for why my (one) attempt is not going so well is that I had less than ideal conditions. Both temperature and user technique, probably the latter is most to blame!...